Dubai, UAE; September 21, 2014: Closely following the launch of Go by OSN, the regions fastest-growing premium online TV service, and the revamp of its website to offer multiplatform access, OSN, the regions leading pay-TV network, has fortified its online payment channel with an unprecedented industry-first.

OSN has now become the regions first home entertainment provider to introduce the highly secure CyberSource payment management solution for its subscribers.

This follows an agreement with leading financial institution, Mashreq, and CyberSource, a Visa company, delivering payment management solutions to over 400,000 merchants worldwide, to provide secure online payment services for Mashreq Banks merchant clients.

OSN, a merchant client of Mashreq, is among the first to leverage the significant advantages of the new relationship with CyberSource. OSN subscribers and Go by OSN users across the region will benefit from an extra cover of cyber security as the network uses CyberSources highly secure, convenient and end-to-end online payment channel.

In todays era of technology specialisation, it is important to leverage the significant strengths that global experts bring to our business. The agreement with Mashreq and CyberSource will help ensure total security and convenience for OSN customers for any card transaction whether its through our award-winning customer service center, at an OSN point of sale or online via our website, said David Butorac, CEO of OSN.

The early adoption of the state-of-the-art payment channel is a strong testament of our continued commitment to invest in the most advanced technologies to enhance the customer experience. he added.

Mashreq prides itself in building market defining propositions and we are delighted to launch this innovative online payment product with one of our key partners, OSN. This is the first large scale implementation of a state of the art secure and encrypted form of card data usage and storage Tokenization as a payment mode in the country. Besides vastly improving the online payment experience for users it will create an unparalleled level of data security, adds Nimish Dwivedi, Head of Payments of Mashreq.

The significant security that the CyberSource payment gateway brings to OSN subscribers is its - tokenisation service, whereby all sensitive credit/debit card related data is replaced with a unique identifier (or token). Through this system, card data entered by customers is immediately encrypted and transmitted to CyberSources Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant data vault.

The actual card data, therefore, never enters OSNs system; only the tokenised number is stored in the ERP system.

We are excited to work with Mashreq, said Gups Jutla, Head of Business Development, MENA, CyberSource. We believe this agreement helps Mashreq to provide fast, safe and a seamless buying experience to its merchant customers thereby accelerating the adoption of online payments.

OSN, one of the most significant clients of Mashreq is the first to benefit from this new agreement with CyberSource. We are confident that an effective and secure payment management system will help enhance OSNs end-customers experience, and improve customer retention and loyalty, Jutla added.

CyberSource also adds significant value to OSN subscribers through its Recurring Billing solution, which is designed to streamline and automate recurring payments. It will help ensure that regular payments, such as monthly bills, are made securely and conveniently. New subscribers as well as Go by OSN users can also benefit from an express checkout facility for repeat purchases by saving a preferred payment method.